You know those piles of Christmas cards stuffed with photos and page long letters of what had happened to the family over the prior year? The Christmas of 2009, I chose to write a quick email to family and friends, attach a photo or two and posted something similar on Facebook. I guess I felt the need to go green. This year, I didn’t even do that much. I posted some Jib Jab videos with a greeting on Facebook and that was about it.

Our Fridge

Little did I know that those photos were helpful. You see, we live “on the other side of Egypt” as my sister says. Therefore, we do not get the privilege of seeing old friends and dear family as they continue on with everyday life. Those yearly reminders of the changes we had missed, in the form of photos, were usually magnetized to my refrigerator, so without much thought the changes within families were evident for an entire year until we got the newest photo of the family the next year.

Because I have not sent out card, I did not receive many cards. Apparently most people I sent them to sent me one after they received mine. Because I have not had photos of the changes within the families, I forgot that as we change they do as well. You see, I was surfing through some photos of a family on their Facebook profile. I laughed thinking it was funny that a nephew or random kid walked into their picture, but then realized “the little boy on the father’s lap” was not some random kid that walked into the photo but in fact the newest addition to the family which I had forgotten about. I forgot because I didn’t have their photo on my fridge to remind me.